9 March 2017 - Health insurers are stepping up their campaign to end government veto power over insurance premiums, arguing the annual premium approval process is a straitjacket that stifles competition and forces consumers to pay more.

NIB chief executive Mark Fitzgibbon said the approval process took pressure off insurers by allowing them to signal price rises to each other. “Insurers will be ­reluctant to offer lower prices at lower margins to attract more customers for fear they won’t be able to ever ­recover margins if need be — ­because of the uncertainty of the approval process,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

Health insurance ministers have approved health ­insurance premium increases averaging 5.7% a year since 2012.

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